2014 September LSAT Instant Recap

You did it. The September LSAT is over.

Take a moment to celebrate that simple fact.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way… How did it go?

In the comments below, let us know your feelings about today’s LSAT. How difficult did you find it? Which section(s) tripped you up? Did anything crazy happen at your testing center? How awesome is that soccer coach GIF?

We want to hear your thoughts.

An important note: LSAC prohibits us from publishing any big specifics from any LSAT (this includes individual questions/answers, trying to identify the experimental section, etc.). So if your comment is removed, it most likely violated some kind of rule or was close enough that we didn’t want to risk it. Here’s a pretty good guide for what’s acceptable.

So far we’re hearing that RC was a little easier than people were expecting, with mixed reviews on one LG and a couple of LR. Agree? Disagree? We’ll keep you updated as we get more information. In the meantime, let’s get commenting!

193 Responses

I am feeling horrible after the test I had a hard time with the logic games section I had to guess on the last 6 questions because I ran out of time. The LR sections i feel really good about and the RC were ok but the LGs really did me in. I guess i am taking the december one now.

Reading comp is what I find to be my hardest section but i found it easy. Logic games definitely tripped me up because there were not nearly as many sequencing elements as I was hoping for considering that is my strength and that is the majority of what is suppose to be tested on logic games. Logical reasoning was the medium hardness of the three types for me.

I had the LR RC LR LR LG setup. The third LR section seemed easier than the first two LR sections. It also had less assumption questions, which were predicted to be the most common question in LR. I’m hoping that the second LR section was the experimental.

Was thinking that Section 4 was experimental as well. Recent LSAT exams have had one LR section containing 26 questions and the other containing 25. The first section had 25, and sections 3-4 both had 26. So my bets are on one of those two (more-so on 4).

Well I’ll hope for that. The only reason I feel like it might not be is that the last time there was an LSAT with two LR sections with 26 questions each was December of 2010 and I don’t know the last time before that. It just seems unlikely that it happened again but who knows!

I had 3 LR and didn’t find anything unusual about any of them. The 2nd of the 3 was a little trickier, but nothing oddball. RC was definitely easier than I expected; the structure was pretty easy to spot in each passage. In LG, the third game was a huge time-suck, but luckily the fourth wasn’t too bad (even though it looked initially like it could be). I’m expecting a pretty tight curve relative to recent tests: -10 for a 170.

Does anyone remember a game where you were supposed to distribute entities (I think either meetings or conferences) between a fall and a spring semester? I also had two logic games and trying to see which one was the experimental. Unfortunately I don’t remember a game about flowers or CDs, my memory failed me there. Thank you!

I always do great on RC, but I thought this one was brutal. I had two RCs section 1 and 3. I was praying that section 3 was the one that counted, but it appears section 1, that which started off with Darwin was the one that counted. Maybe I was just nervous, because I’ve never started with RC…

I also had two LG sections, sections 3 and 4. I’m pretty sure (but not totally sure) that the second one was real. Why would they put an experimental right after the real one, after the break? I mean, they could, but I don’t think it would make much sense… Anyway, I did fine on the first LG, was feeling good up to that point (did fine on the other early sections too). But I don’t think I did so well on the second (the one that I think is real). Really rattled me, so much so, that I probably messed up the last LR section too. Bummer, since everything was going so smoothly beforehand. I’m even thinking about cancelling my score, but I really don’t want to have to take the thing again in December.

The hardest LG for me was the second one. I feel it was the experimental section, section 4. I didn’t finish, and to point out, we weren’t warned about having 5 minutes left. If the LG section 4 wasn’t experimental then I guess I’m going to have a big problem. The administrators will probably have a big problem as well.

I screwed up BIG TIME on the middle two logic games and got flustered. (the section with flowers, historical buildings, and CDs was the real one). I’m praying that my poor LG score is offset by my LRs and RC.

I had 2 LG too. They really really tripped me up!! I usually like when there are 2 logic games sections bc it tends to be my favorite section and I would rather that than something else.. but I really struggled with them this time!

It’s safe to say that the LG section with flowers and CDs was the real one, and the RC section with Darwinian Theory, Photography, and Indian Law (or w/e) was the real one as well. There were, however, three LR sections on mine. Section 4 was by far easier than the two I think. Let’s go about narrowing down which one of these was the experiment!

The experimental sections actually vary and even though two test takers may have the same type of experimental section during the test, the questions asked in these sections can differ. That being said, my experimental LG section had a question about camp activities, assignment of ppl to teams/committees.

I had LR RC LR LR LG. Not sure which LR was experimental, they all seemed about equal difficulty. None were too brutal overall, but I thought there were some brutal questions in each. Lol, the parts do not equal the whole in this case. I though LG was pretty normal, definitely nothing as hard as the mauve Dino. The comparative RC was kind of tricky. I feel like it was very average, probably -10 for 170. Glad it’s over!!! Who thinks they will wait until after Hallween to release scores? I hope not…

i had 3 LR’s also. I fucked up the second one, which was section three for me. i remember that the first LR had 25 questions. the second LR had 26 and the third LR (section 4) had 26 questions.
i have no idea which the experimental was. praying it was the second one, but there could be 52 LR questions. there were on at least one practice we took.

I had the same experience, the proctors were talking! and constantly pacing beside my desk, driving me crazy and breaking my concentration. I tried to offset this by always studying in public settings, but the lady was so distracting that my practicing didn’t help as much as I had hoped.

Hi guys I also took it today, I had the version with RC 2 and 3 LR sections; there is a very simple solution to solving for which one was the experimental but I told you….I’d have to kill you, just kidding of course.

Think of this this way, the Logical Reasoning has 51 Questions total, with LR1 having 25 and LR 3 and 4 having 26; what does this imply?

Well this implies that 3 and 4 cannot be both real sections, why? Because they add up to 52 questions, while LR must add up to 51, meaning what?

That the Logical Reasoning sections that are scored are 1 combined with 3/4 using a linked option and the other of the 3/4 linked option being out as the experimental; sorry to break it to you people that were hoping for 1 to be experimental, it was by far the hardest of the three.

Games on the other hand were also very difficult, but the first four sections were easily nailable.

No, doesn’t necessarily have to be 51 LR questions. Could be 52. Practice exam two had 52 LR.
Looking at the comments, it seems the experimental RC was section 3. It also seems like LG experimental was section 3. Could we have a trifecta with LR?

i had two LG sections and I know which one was the real one (Music on CD, Flowers, etc) but I wanted to remember what questions were on the experimental LG. Just a few keywords about them to remind me.
Please! Thanks!

I think it was one with the Musicians playing piano or violin… Does that help? I can think of one other game in the experimental, but I can’t remember the exact layout of the question. Just know it was about people and vague sequencing rules. Needless to say, both sections were extremely tough for me :(

I had LR-RC-LR-LR-LG. I normally suck at RC, but this one was not too bad at all. The games weren’t bad either except for the one with the hallways and the hours I ended up skipping. The 3rd LR was way easier than the others, only one I was able to finish so hopefully that one counts. I was averaging 164 on my PT’s but don’t feel like I scored that well today. Good luck everyone.

If you take both 26s, that means you have to take the RC and Games because there was only one of each, but what does that mean?

THE TOTAL WOULD ADD UP TO 102 QUESTIONS, THAT NEVER HAPPENS; the scoring scale is based on 101 maximum questions, I hope you guys are following my line of logic here, we just studied for the LSAT this isn’t that difficult to figure out lmao

I had LR RC LR LR LG and mine were 25-26-25 for the LR. I did not have two that were 26; just one. I had to pee badly on the second LR which was my only 26 so I guess that’s a real one for me unfortunately. I also had a fill in the blank as the last question for LR #3. And I thought the first was the easiest. Long story short — there’s only one 26 LR.

This is incorrect. The LR with that ended in fill in the blank had 25 questions. I know this because I had only 2 LR sections and I remember the last questions very clearly. The one that had 26 questions ended with a necessary assumption question.

LR seemed normal (had 3 sections, all seemed similar enough to not play detective and find out what was experimental), usually my best. RC (usually my worst) went smoothly, felt better than usual, not rushed at all. Felt great going into games, 2 went fine, 2 tripped me up. Nothing particularly surprising, think it might have been more mental fatigue than anything. We’ll see. Feeling pretty average, depending A LOT on how many you can miss for whatever score. Cheers and good luck ya’ll, might see you in Dec.

I would like to know which logical reasoning section doesn’t count because I messed up so badly on the 4th one. and games were kind of difficult. the first and 3rd game were a breeze but the others. geez

So, I just want to thank the people at blueprint for their affective teaching practices. After taking the lsat today, I feel really confident in my performance. I had LR RC LR LR LG, and I think I did really well in each section. I was usually able to finish each section with 3-5 minutes remaining and managed to catch a few mistakes I made when looking back at my answers. I had a bit of trouble with the last LR section, so I hope that one was experimental. I think I became tired after the break which affected my performance. Still, the lsat seemed a lot easier than I was expecting it to be. Here’s hoping that I’m not getting my hopes up too high. Now to begin the long 3 week wait…

Ya my 1st and 4th were my best with 3rd being by far the worst section on the test. Got like 3 D’s in a row then immediately like 3 Cs. And didn’t finish comfortably in time. But now its pretty much certain that that section was real and one of my better two were experimental

Questions within experimentals can differ. So 25, 26, 25 is possible. I don’t know though if the sequence of the experimental can differ too. So if one person with three LR’s had section 3 as experimental while another with 3 LR’s had section 4 as their experimental instead.
If they don’t, then based on some having 26 and you guys having 25 for section 4, that would be the experimental section.
If they can differ, then fuck knows.

I completely agree with your sentiment and had the same set up in London. I found the 2nd LG section on my test significantly more difficult than the first. What leads you to believe that the 2nd was experimental though? I want it to be of course haha but I’m curious as to why you think that

I have no way of knowing which was experimental of the 2, but in my london test the 2nf lg was much harder grouping games. The 2nd game, of the second lg section… i was like wtf and drew a complete blank on trying to set it up.

did anyone have a LG with the questions regarding courses offered in spring and fall? I think tampa and vancouver were two cities discussed. I thought the LG were very difficult, over 10+ practice tests I have never gotten more than 3 wrong, and I struggled with two questions in each section. Has LSAC ever split experiemental questions into two different sections? Just praying that’s a possibility…

Yea me too.. had two LGs. Trying to figure out which one of them was the experimental. Like I said, I only remember the fall/spring ones, but no one with just one LG seems to remember anything about them.. so I don’t know. :(

I had RCLRRCLGLR. The logic game really tripped me up as well, but I am hoping that my RC and LR will help to make up for it. The reading comp was pretty easy I thought. LR was typical. My proctors though, I could have done without! One kept walking around and RIGHT INFRONT OF MY DESK, bumping it each time. Like HELLO I am trying to take a test! Also, the first three sections, they put our start time and stop time on the board, then sections 4 and 5 they stopped! Not cool!

I was going through my version of the test great until the very last section when seconds after starting, construction workers started drilling into the side of the building incessantly and randomly for the next 30 mins so you were just waiting for it to start up again any time now and ruin your train of thought. Ugh! Hopefully my other three sections will make up for it.

Like many on here I had LR, RC, LR, LR, LG. The BIGTIME TBD questions seems to be which LR was experimental.

One real LR section ended with a fill in the blank question, this I believe was section 1. The other real LR ended with a question on chemical fertilizers, can anyone recall if this was 3 or 4? The experimental LR had as question 1 or 2 a question on binge drinking of beer (who wouldn’t remember that!), again can anyone weigh in on whether that was 3 or 4?

Yeah but can’t remember what section. I think section 4 was the experimental and 3 counted – wish it were the other way around. Do you remember a question on mars and methane breakdown from the sun? That question was on a scored section

I had the same setup. I am hoping the last LR was real because I think it went better for me than the first two. I don’t remember specific questions except that many were related to environment and pollution. There may have been one about more/less car accidents on open roads.

Sorry to repeat – so you had only one LG section and you don’t remember one with cities / Fall & Spring semesters? I think you were distributing cities/meetings underneath fall and spring semesters.. I had two LG games and I can only remember this game, hoping your memory might help mine.

Hi all–reading through comments and reflecting on the test, I am actually kind of irate about the LG section. I have practiced taking virtually every LG section ever published (it is my weakness) and the Sept. 27 LG section was imo an egregious outlier compared to any previous section. No, the games in of themselves were not particularly exotic, but they were all at the mid to upper end of the complexity range which made the section virtually impossible to triage. Not offering a single game with two case limited options and/or a straight forward leap deduction is something I’ve rarely, if ever, seen before and I think it put everyone on this test at a huge LG section disadvantage relative to previous tests. As I imagine most of you would agree, mastery of LG isn’t in the games its in the pacing so depriving takers of the 9/27 test of a “gimme” game in essence robbed them of at least several minutes of section time that most/all previous test takers have been afforded. The way I see it, the way this LG section was composed significantly altered the usual time constraints of the test–it’s like they arbitrarily decided, instead of having 35 mins for LG, you’ve got 30. Personally, as soon as I recognized that there was no gimme game (jeez…they even through curveballs into the basic sequencing game…”glork is either before clark and muke or it is after clark and muke”) I went into a tailspin not knowing how to manage the section, panicked, and pretty much bombed the whole thing. Is this my fault? Yup…I still suck at LG and am not very adaptable/easily spooked. However, had the test stuck to its established format this would not have happened and I think the test makers have a responsibility to try a little harder to ensure that the test experience is uniformly difficult throughout the evolution of the test. Removing the gimme game from LG was ostensibly a minor shift, but for anyone who struggles most with LG, it seems pretty brutally punitive–especially considering that LR and RC sections, where I think most people who flounder with LG tend to excel, were pretty tame. /vent.

I felt the same way about the logic games. I knew my score was going to depend on whether or not I finished the logic games section in time, but unfortunately I missed one question completely and guessed on two of them. I’m not even confident in the questions I did answer because I was so pushed for time that I can guarantee that I made mistakes. Going to retake in December. Frustrating.

I’ve been told that the experimental section is always before the break. I had two Game sections (3 and 4) and 3 was the hardest for me. RC came first for me on the test, which made it more difficult. I’m hoping that the 3rd section was experimental.

this is not going to stop people from doscussing it. u cant inhibit freedom of speech. the bery fact that people discuss the LSAT helps tutors like yourself conceptualize and teach the test. i myself took the test on monday but LSAC doesnt release it at all. i want to know how i did. can only get an idea by discussing it

To be clear, we love discussion of the LSAT. But LSAC has regulations (which you agreed to in taking the test) that prohibit discussion of specific questions and answers, and they will cancel your score/prosecute you should you break them.

From what I’ve read around, the tired/yawning/irritability question was a scored section, it was second to last question…MK/Sandra/Bandit, was it in your Section 3? Was the last question right after that about fertilizers? The fertilizer question was a scored section.

My setup was LR RC LR LR LG and I DEFINITELY had two 25 question LRs and one 26 question LR. My second section of LR is where the one with 26 questions was.

Does anyone have any guesses as to when scores will actuallyyyyy be released? It says 22nd, and because they don’t usually release on weekends I’m guessing the 20th. But I saw on another blog a bunch of people were speculating that it’ll come 13-17…I’m pretty sure theyve never released it that far off from the date though, right?

my format: rc lr rc lg lr, real reading comp had darwin, experimental had computers, the game section that counts is the one who the 3 families, flowers, etc, i didnt think they were bad, it was just those games that you had to grind through with a lot of if questions, lr was tough, a few curveballs but overall wasnt as bad as i thought it be, and reading comp i was definitely surprised, i wasnt overwhelmed by the real section or the experimental